Gonzales was sentenced this week to 200 months in federal prison after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to engage in racketeering. Once his prison sentence ends, he will spend three years on supervised release.

“I realize I’ve made wrong decisions in my life causing pain to my family as well as for the families of my victims,” Gonzales wrote in a letter to U.S. District Judge Robert Holmes Bell.

“I take full responsibility for my actions and wish to apologize to my victims, the city of Holland, and the state of Michigan for terrorizing the community,” he wrote, in a handwritten letter.

He said he felt remorse for his crimes, and vowed to create a better life for himself and his son. He said he had left the gang lifestyle.

Gonzales is one of 31 Holland Latin Kings arrested as part of a federal racketeering investigation. All of them have been convicted, with 29 pleading guilty to charges. Many await sentencing.

Gonzales has spent most of his adult life in prison. Charged with attempted murder in 2003, he was found guilty at trial of assault with intent to commit great bodily harm. He served about eight years in prison.

His attorney, Roman Kosiorek, said Gonzales’ father and brother were also members of Latin Kings at one time. Gonzales became affiliated with the gang at the age of 12, before his “involvement with the Holland Latin Kings escalated over his teenage years … .”

His father, Cipriano Gonzales Sr., asked the judge to place his son with him at his home in Texas. He promised to keep his son out of trouble.

He said he was not a good or responsible parent to his children growing up.

“And my boys did what they could to survive,” he wrote in a letter to the judge.